The Next Adventure
by Sir E. Bellum
Summary: I wrote this shortly after finishing the last Artemis Fowl book (ok, immediately after), deciding that I didn't like the cliffhanging ending to a series. This is the beginning of my own series of Artemis Fowl stories, as I now have ideas for more adventures.
1. Chapter 1

Artemis sat up in bed. His dreams had been plagued with strange visions: fantastic technologies, fairies, trolls, and one individual in particular, leaning in from above him. What had she been saying? Something about healing, being glad he was ok . . .

Instead of dissipating, the dream grew sharper. Details flooded into his head. _Trolls! Butler fought a troll! Hell, Mulch _rode _a troll! And Foaly, all that time and money spent making that technology, and all the time and effort I put into batting it aside! And . . . Holly._

Artemis shook his head, suddenly feeling dizzy. Why was all of this coming back suddenly? Had The People gone back on their deal, had he been wiped again? No, Holly would never let them, and Foaly would never go through with it. And he _certainly_ wouldn't be able to overcome Foaly's wipes with just a good night's rest.

The memories were still flowing, but this time, he was retracing his steps. Butler and Holly had left him here to rest, why? Because he was exhausted in every sense of the word, physically and spiritually, but why? He was remembering because Holly was reminding him, stories of their adventures. WHY?

I was dead.

He remembered the shimmering, scintillating green barrier. Holly struggling against Butler, trying to save him. A futile gesture. Hadn't she realized it was necessary? Didn't she see that this was the only way? He left her the escape route, Foaly would be able to . . .

Suddenly, Artemis stood up and dashed across the room, all dizziness forgotten. He scrambled to a stop at the vanity on the far side and looked in the mirror.

"My eye," He said, slowly, "My hazel eye. It's gone." Of course it was gone, he was a clone. He knew it shouldn't be there, that the magical transplant wasn't part of him, and thus would not be cloned, but he somehow missed seeing it in the mirror. Missed seeing _her_ looking back at him.

His rush across the room and low voice caused the room's other occupant to stir. Turning, he saw a small form huddled in the armchair, evidently keeping watch over the sleeping boy. Her position suggested she had slowly succumbed to sleep after trying to stay awake, her posture bore evidence that she had hastily drawn in her legs and turned sideways to sleep, realizing the inevitable.

Artemis quietly retrieved a blanket from the bed and, making sure not to make a noise as he crossed the room, draped it over her sleeping form. His efforts were in vain, however, as she stirred when the blanket was laid down. Before she could rise, he pushed her shoulder down, speaking softly.

"Shh, go back to sleep, you can rest now," He said, trying to be soothing, but coming across demanding. He tried to soften his tone. "We won, everything's okay, you deserve a rest."

"Artemis?" Holly said, groggily, debating whether she should awake at the news he was conscious, or follow his instructions and fall back into slumber, "You . . . You remember?"

Leaning in, he spoke near her ear. "I remember everything." And with this, he leaned in and kissed her, for the barest of seconds, before pulling away. By the time he rose from her side, Holly was sleeping, far more peacefully than before.

Artemis crossed to the door, opening it just enough for him to slip through. As he did so, the person dozing in the chair next to the door awoke with a start, hand reaching into his jacket for the handgun holstered there.

"Holly? Is Artemis . . . " Butler realized who was standing before him, but before he could say anything, Artemis help up his hand, quickly indicating that he should be quiet.

"She's sleeping, as I noticed you were." He said, a small grin forming in the corner of his mouth, "If only Madame Ko could see you, she'd forgo the laser and flay that tattoo from your skin with her bare hands."

Butler didn't say a word, merely putting his hand on his young charge's shoulder, "You should be resting yourself, you've technically only been alive for a few hours."

"I have spent enough time resting Butler, for as they say, you can sleep when you're dead." Artemis didn't note the joke. Once upon a time he would have marveled at the unexpected quip, but of late, he found it faster to just assume Holly's unprofessional tendencies were rubbing off. "I have work to do, for undoubtedly, in six months, the world has had enough to deal with that one young genius from Ireland has been forgotten."

By now, Artemis had made his way to the study and sat down at the desk where, in spite of his absence, his computer still sat.

"It's time I set about reminding them."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I apologize for the time it took to post this, writer's block is truly a terrible thing.**

**I took the time in the writing to address a few of the concerns mentioned in the reviews, but overall this is as conceived. It is, after all, my story.**

Holly awoke with a start, momentarily confused by the blanket draped across her curled form. Then she remembered that night's events, and how Artemis had given her the blanket. _Did he...did he kiss me?_She thought, further confused.

Deciding to leave it for the time being, she left the room to find Butler was not at his post outside the door. This meant Artemis had moved to a different part of the house. Wandering around, she soon came across Butler in the kitchen, making tea and putting together a small plate of pastries from a bowl on the table.

"Artemis?" She inquired, cocking her head and examining the plate.

"He woke about half an hour ago, he's been catching up on world events in the last six months." Butler explained, walking towards the exit with his load. "He wanted to let you sleep, you looked like you needed it."

Butler left Holly in the kitchen, knowing she'd want to raid the food stores a bit before talking to Artemis. _Resurrections seem to leave people feeling drained_, he thought as he walked back to the study. He set the tray next to Artemis and said, as he left, "You've got about five minutes before a very curious elf comes through here." with this, he resumed his post outside the door of the study.

Holly must not have been as hungry as Butler thought. Three minutes after her short conversation with the Eurasian bodyguard, Butler saw her wander down the hall towards his post.

"He's waiting inside, though you may wish to brush those crumbs off of your chin first." He said simply, grinning inwardly as the Holly stopped and spent several seconds making sure there was no trace of her breakfast anywhere on her person. Thus reassured, she walked up to the door, Butler quickly keying the combination and opening it for her.

Holly looked around the computer filled room. _So this is where all those attacks on Foaly's "advanced" systems start,_ she thought, looking at the innocuous network of computers. In one corner of the room was a large desk, and seated before it was Artemis, data streaming across his screen as he took in six months worth of news, technology, and politics. A brief wave over his shoulder was the only acknowledgment of Holly's arrival.

She found a chair and sat, barely containing her curiosity, until finally, rubbing his eyes, he closed the laptop. She didn't know anyone else who could possibly have taken in that much information in a little over an hour, but then, she didn't know anyone else like Artemis Fowl.

"You remember?" She said softly, looking at the tired boy. Despite his earlier quip to Butler, he found himself exhausted despite his claims of rest.

"Yes." He answered, "I suspect my initial amnesia was brought on by my soul spending so much time without a vessel. Bruin Fadda's spell kept me here, but it was just an echo of the magic, not even a fraction of what allowed the Berserkers to retain so much of themselves."

This made Holly realize that perhaps, if circumstances had not lined up just right, the boy would never have come back to the living world. Would she have been able to handle such a reality? _No, I don't think so. I barely handled six months of his death_.

"So," he said, snapping her out of her reverie, "What has happened in the Lower Elements in six months?"

"Well, initially it was much like it was up here," She said, remembering, "No comms, no transit, barely electricity. Foaly had some tech stashed in his 'in case all hell breaks loose, they won't hang me for these' drawer that saved the day. Some sort of robo-dragonfly that allowed for a rudimentary network. Without it, the LEP would never have restored order to the city. The death toll was big, but it would have been bigger. Foaly even managed to stop a full scale goblin riot with some sort of time bubble."

Artemis took this all in, nodding slowly as he did so. "And afterward? When Koboi had been stopped?"

Holly shivered, unwillingly recalling the time she spent mourning Artemis, or the time spent waiting for his half-cocked plan to come to fruition. "We recovered. The shuttleports were open to the air for a few days, but we got them shielded. A few select mindwipes later and it became stories, like UFOs. Haven took longer, more destruction, you see. It might have taken a few weeks fewer if Foaly put his full attention into it, but I figured Haven could last a few weeks, but your soul might not."

"Thank you for the consideration," Artemis said, sincerely, "I'm not sure if my soul would have lasted much longer. It was . . . peculiar, being non-corporeal." What he wanted to say was "torturous", but he felt the elf needed not know that he spent the time it took her to bring him back in discomfort. She had been through enough already.

Despite this, Holly looked down at her feet at his words. "Artemis," she started, "I'm sorry it took -"

"Don't be," He interrupted, "You have given me life again, and that is enough that I am in your debt, permanently."

Their conversation lasted for several more minutes, until Artemis could remain conscious no longer. Holly panicked slightly when the young genius' head drooped, but soon realized he was merely exhausted. Butler moved him back to his room and this time directed Holly to a guest room, reasoning that the body no longer needed constant observation, and that Holly didn't need another night sleeping in a chair. She had tried to protest, but the bed seemed inviting, and soon she was sound asleep, dreams finally unburdened by the memory of Artemis' death.

-The following morning-

Foaly was back in Haven, having only had a few hours worth of excuse for his absence. He was busy at work in the Ops booth, putting the finishing touches on Haven's recovery. Several areas were actually improved by the disaster. Mirroring the humans in seizing the opportunity for bettering themselves, the people had been hard at work improving Haven. Magnastrips now lay under every road, automating Haven's traffic entirely. The sunstrips in the roof were now replaced by an enormous holographic screen, providing an actual sky and sun during the day, and beautiful stars at night to the citizens of the Lower Elements.

Foaly himself had been finishing the constellations for the night sky, adding in a surreptitious centaur where previously there was none. _Let's see if anyone connects the dots_, he thought, allowing himself a whinny of self-importance.

A beeping coming from another monitor told him he had an incoming message, and he trotted over to see who was calling him. A few taps later, and Artemis' head filled the screen.

"Foaly, good to see you." Artemis said, as if he had spent the six months on sabbatical, instead of floating around the manor grounds. "I had a few favors to ask you, seeing how I saved the world, once again. They can wait if you need to add more references to yourself in the night sky."

Foaly merely rolled his eyes at this last jab. He had long since gotten used to the mud boy knowing what he was doing on the computer. "If you want me to add you as well, you're going to have to get in line. Mulch and Holly have both been pestering me for weeks." He said, only half joking. Holly may have been sidetracked but Mulch really had been hinting at his want for a more permanent honor. _His imitation of the satyr from that silly movie about that Greek demigod was uncanny. What was it again? Heracles?_ He pushed the thoughts aside as Artemis replied.

"Nothing so grandiose, I merely wished to inquire as to the advancements the People have made in cosmetic surgery"

"Back for a day and you already want to get rid of that eleventh toe, huh?" The Centaur said, having missed the banter he had with the human. "I think you could find a human doctor for that."

"Another time, perhaps." Artemis said, half serious, "No, I was thinking more about . . . changing eye colour."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I realize my grasp of Police Plaza's layout is probably incorrect, but I couldn't think of anything else to put on the three floors Colfer mentions being blown out/collapsed. He mentions officers being safe above, but there had to have been significant casualties. **

**I also admit to taking the idea of Holly coming home to find Artemis in her apartment from ****Kaori Kisaragi's fic "An Unexpected Turn of Events" (though my version has a very different ending than that visit). I suggest it be read, though warn that it is rated mature for very good reasons. If you don't like smut, read it for the plot. If you like smut, read it for the plot and enjoy the smut along the way.**

Several weeks later, Holly was back in Haven. Not long after Artemis had made is recovery, her duties had called her back to the Lower Elements. She was, after all, supposed to be helping with recovery efforts. She felt odd, and it took her a while to realize that Artemis was the cause, as usual. For the last several months, she had had the luxury of visiting him whenever she had time to take a quick jaunt over to Argon's clinic. After his death, she had been so obsessed with resurrecting him that she hadn't had time to process feelings other than guilt for letting him die, pain for the loss, and determination to bring him back. Now that he was alive and mentally sound he was, of course, living on the surface. In the past this had never bothered her, as the meddling genius usually meant trouble, but now she felt strangely empty knowing it would take her the time and complications of a visa and an above ground flight to reach him.

Currently, she was sifting through paperwork. As it turns out, it took a lot more work to bring someone back to life than it did to kill them. After Artemis' death, she had to fill out a single form that, when registered, listed him as KIA in all of the LEP's records. In order to nullify this, she had to fill out a separate form for each area he had been wiped from. Halfway through, she decided she would call him on the communicator she kept at home, unnecessary for months, firstly to sate her need to see him, and secondly to complain about the amount of work he was inadvertently putting her through.

Every so often, burly gnomes would walk past her open office door carrying equipment or furniture. The lower floors of Police Plaza, which had been blown out during Koboi's final attack, had been reconstructed and was now being made fit for work again. The area was mostly recreational, the gym and the firing range, or decoration, such as the large atrium. While this limited casualties, there were still offices and central booking and dispatch on the three floors. Upon seeing the workers, Holly felt a pang of sorrow as she thought of the brave men and women who had been killed, either in the explosions or the resulting collapse.

Several hours later, she made her way home. The area around the Plaza had been pedestrianized long ago, which meant that if she did drive, she would have to park halfway between her house and work anyway. As such, she had elected years ago to walk, and only used the scooter in the car port of her apartment building for recreation, or when she needed to travel across the cavern. It generally took her half an hour to get home, though she took slightly less time on this trip, in anticipation of speaking with Artemis. She was so preoccupied, she didn't notice the person standing in her apartment until she closed the door and taken several steps.

There, sniffing at a jar of herbal tea leaves, was Artemis. He was examining them with something between curiosity and disdain. Finally, he lidded the jar and put it back in its nook, turning to face Holly. She had, upon seeing him in her kitchen, dropped her jaw and entirely failed to pick it up in the few seconds that had passed.

"Hello." he said, simply. He acted as if this was entirely normal and that there was nothing out of the ordinary with him being there. Holly did not.

"What the. . . ? How did you . . . ?" She seemed unable to formulate whole questions as she looked bewildered between him and the door, which had been quite firmly locked when she left, and had been so when she had returned.

"Get in here?" he finished, smiling slightly, "Captain, I'm offended. I've been picking locks since I was five. Granted, the People have far more sophisticated locking mechanisms than humans, but I'm also a far more sophisticated lock pick than when I was five."

This explanation did not seem to help, as she still stood, mouth agape, staring at him.

"Why are you here?" She finally asked, her brain re-engaging after her earlier false starts, "How did you even get to Haven?"

"I am here for a meeting," He said, still talking as if it were all natural, "And I got here the same way you did, via shuttle, from a shuttle port."

"What?!" She blurted in disbelief, "How does a 5'8" human walk through a shuttleport, board a shuttle, and take it all the way to Haven?!"

"The shuttleport was empty," Artemis explained, "and the shuttle was sent for me. My meeting is with the Council. I have a few things to discuss with them, what with my current resurrected status and my services stopping what would have resulted in one extinction level event and one civil war. They mentioned that you would probably be required to give witness, and I asked that I be the one to fetch you."

Holly was still in disbelief when a knock came at the door. Outside was Commander Kelp, who had brought the car that was to take them to the council chamber, as it turned out that, despite Artemis' request, they had only conceded to a few minutes alone to explain the situation before taking them to the meeting. On the way out, Holly noticed Artemis limping slightly, but was too overwhelmed by the events unfolding to ask him about it, saving the question for later.

The ride to the council chambers was uneventful. Holly eventually recovered enough to ask Artemis about his limp, fearing he had somehow been injured during some scheme. She was relieved to find that it was merely tenderness left over from the surgery correcting the number of digits on his foot, as he had taken Foaly's advice on finding a doctor on the surface to solve the issue.

Once in the council chamber, Holly tensed unconsciously. To many times had she been called in front of the council for tribunals, as her efforts to save the world often wound up with her being blamed for something. Even when she had been kidnapped by the boy who would later prove himself more than a match for the People, they had blamed it on an inability to function properly due to her being female! As if he could read her mind (and she was thinking this was true more and more), Artemis spoke up.

"Relax Captain," He said calmly, "You're not here to be prosecuted, just to testify. Hopefully in my favor."

Holly saw an opportunity. "Well . . . I don't know, there was the kidnapping, and the lying, and the whole lemur incident." she was looking at the ceiling, as if trying to remember more dirt against him. Artemis, on the other hand, looked at her with disdain.

"Captain!" he said, with mock pain, "Surely you didn't spend six months poring over a hot chrysalis so you could have me tossed in jail!"

"Of course not," Holly said, laughing, "The Artemis who pulled all of that would never have been able to crack jokes about it. He's long gone."

At this point, the council chamber filled with people as the various council members took their seats. Artemis and Holly followed suit and sat at the table in the focal point of the half-circle chamber. The council asked a series of questions about the causes of Artemis' death, the circumstances of his revival, and whether or not a second chance at something like life was within Holly and Foaly's judgment to make.

At this point, Foaly was brought in and gave his testimony, explaining how he felt that after all of Artemis' contributions to the People and the world in general, he deserved more than a death at the hands of a crazed pixie bent on destroying an entire species. Afterward, he took a seat next to Artemis and Holly. It was now Holly's turn to speak.

"Several years ago, I was kidnapped by a young boy." Holly started, "He held me ransom for fairy gold and, for the first time in fairy history, he was successful. He was the only human to ever keep gold taken from the LEP ransom fund. As much as Foaly hates to admit it, he outsmarted his time stop and survived a blue rinse and even a troll attack."

"A year later, the same boy offered help with a goblin rebellion in exchange for help rescuing his long-lost father. This boy was slightly different, going so far as to crawl through a tube of weapons-grade plasma using an appropriated LEP helmet in order to take down Opal Koboi, in what would later prove to be his first showdown with the pixie."

she continued through Artemis' adventures, the incident with Spiro, the second showdown with Koboi, saving the island of Hybras (briefly touching on the swapping of their eyes and Artemis' brief experience with magic) and the time travel ordeal (noting that it was his third bout with the lunatic Koboi). She discussed his encounter with the Atlantis Complex and the emergence and subsequent removal of the Orion personality. She ended with the details leading up to and including Artemis' death.

"After everything I've been through with Artemis Fowl," She said, bringing her argument to a close, "I look back and realize something. If you were to ask me to point out the person who kidnapped me all those years ago, I would be able to look around this room and say, with no uncertainty or deception, that the person in question is not in attendance."

Councilman Lope spoke first, "Now that the character witnesses have spoken, I believe you have some . . . 'favors' you would like to ask of the council?"

Artemis stood, "I would ask that the witnesses be removed from the chamber for this portion of the meeting, as I would like what I ask to remain between myself and this council for the time being."

At this, Holly looked at Artemis with disbelief. "Artemis? What do you mean? You can't honestly have anything to say to them you can't say in front of Foaly and I!"

Before Artemis said anything, Foaly stepped in, "Come on Holly, it's no big deal. We'll just wait outside and ask him when he comes out, it's not like he can avoid us."

Holly shot him a glare. She realized Artemis was planning something and wanted her specifically out of the loop. There was no other explanation for Foaly willing letting the mud boy keep a secret. Deciding she wouldn't let it drop, but that it was pointless to make a scene, Holly stormed out of the chamber, throwing herself into a seat on the benches outside.

After Foaly had followed her exit, Artemis turned to the council. "I have a few requests to ask, some for my benefit, and some for the benefit of both of our respective peoples. The first being permission to live in Haven. While I realize you will be reluctant to let a human live in your city, I am legally dead in my world, complete with buried body. Only my family knows the truth in my continued existence. This brings me to my second request. I as that Captain Holly Short and I be given permanent visas to visit Fowl manor when we wish. I am willing to pay the council the cost of a shuttle to accommodate this, with Holly serving as pilot. Lastly, I ask a purely selfish favor."

At this point Artemis paused, both for dramatic effect and to study the behavior of the council thus far. While a few members looked aghast at his suggestions, several members, including Lope, were looking at him with complete understanding. After a few seconds, he continued.

"Holly Short spoke of an incident that resulted in our eyes being swapped, resulting in both of us having one eye each from the other. Due to my body being cloned from my DNA only, I have lost that eye and frankly speaking, I miss it. I have been informed that the People have the technology to change eye colour through cosmetic surgery and I would like to have it performed, to return my eyes to a heterochromatic state."

Having said all he wanted, Artemis left into a side chamber while the Council deliberated. After what seemed like an eternity, they sent for him.

As Artemis walked in, he noticed that only councilman Lope was left in the chamber, and that he now stood down in the main area at what could be described as parade rest, feet apart and both hands behind his back.

"The council has decided." he said, matter-of-factly, "You will be granted citizenship in Haven, on a probationary basis. If you cause any problems, this will be rescinded and you will be left to explain your existence on the surface. Due to you services, this will not extend to acts against you by citizens of Haven, as your presence should not be considered a problem in the aforementioned manner. You will be allowed one weekend of every four on the surface with your family, and you will be allowed one guest on each visit. Transportation in this case will be provided by the council. Furthermore, the council will be willing to fund a single procedure to change your eye colour, in light of your extensive services to the People."

At this point, Lope walked up to him and brought her hands forward. In his hands was a flat black box, with a seam down the middle and hinges on one side. "Lastly, in light of your actions and continued efforts to protect the People above and beyond your duties as a citizen of Haven, you have been awarded a citizen's medal of honor." At this point he opened the box and handed it to him, displaying the small but detailed medal, which took the shape of a relief of a small hemisphere with a tiny cityscape inside, flanked by brass wings. Artemis knew from Mulch that this was the highest civilian honor the council could bestow. Judging by his slight smile, Artemis suspected that this was Lope's addition to the concessions. This was confirmed by his next comment:

"I tried to establish a 'Raine Vinyaya memorial rule-breaker' award, but they wouldn't buy it. I figured it would be appropriate considering your new home and your way of coming to be in this situation."

Artemis appreciated the joke, but felt a pang of sorrow for the late Wing Commander. She had met her fate a year previously during his brief encounter with insanity, and he always felt responsible for it.

After Artemis left the chamber, Holly ambushed him. Quite literally. As soon as she heard the door opening she had climbed atop her bench and waited. When Artemis passed her position she yelled and jumped on his back.

Artemis cried out and immediately began trying to dislodge the tiny captain. Despite his every attempt, Holly stayed latched on his back. Finally she spoke.

"I'm not letting go of you until you explain what it was you said in the room!" Her speech was interspersed with sounds of exertion from Artemis' wild struggles. Finally, he gave up. With a tired sigh, he began walking from the building to the car Trouble had left for them.

When she realized he wasn't trying to remove her anymore, Holly got curious.

"What are you doing?" She asked, cocking her head.

"The council has conceded to most of my concessions, I'm going to accept the one of them now."

"Hello? Elf on your back? You're supposed tell me everything in a last ditch effort to remove me!" Holly seemed truly upset that her brilliant plan had failed.

"I'm sorry Holly, but you're not that heavy, and frankly I quite enjoy being this close to you."

Holly was so surprised to hear this that she quite forgot to hang on, and fell to the sidewalk, wincing as she landed on the hard concrete. Artemis smirked as he accepted victory, though Holly internally vowed revenge.

She scrambled to follow him into the car, just missing the directions he had given to the council-appointed chauffeur. She tried to be nonchalant about the situation, but slowly her curiosity got the better of her.

"Where are we going?" she demanded, fixing Artemis with a determined look.

Artemis' only reaction was to reach into the inside pocket of his suit and hand her a sheaf of papers. She studied them for a second, but couldn't quite bring herself to comprehend it.

"This address is a council safe house," she said, dots slowly connecting, "This is a title deed, but that means . . ." She looked from the papers to Artemis several times, looking for some indication. When nothing was forthcoming, she blurted forth the connection she'd made.

"They gave you a house?! Here in Haven?!" She was surprised to find herself incredibly happy at the news. _I won't have to get a visa to see him. I would just need to go visit. _She sat there, considering this, until they pulled up at the modest house previously owned by the Council. While it appeared small, Holly knew that it went down quite a ways into a bunker, and that it was equipped with state-of-the art technology for those stationed inside. _Even in Haven he has the coolest house_ She thought as they walked up the path. When they reached the door, Artemis pulled out a keyring with several identical keys on it. He took one off, looking at it contemplatively for a few moments. Finally, he spoke.

"Holly, would you do me the honor of moving in with me?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, did everyone enjoy my cliffhanger? IloveFowl: All the time I've spent trying to write an (admittedly reformed) evil genius, it rubs off. Particularly the _evil_ part. Hence the suspense. **

**Now for the moment you've all been waiting for, Holly's response and Artemis' operation!**

**The magic/chrysalis plot piece was adapted with permission from fanfiction-dot-net/s/8566608/1/The-Plan-An-Artemis-Fowl-Fanfiction by Fluffy Nabs. Check it out!  
**

Holly, for the second time that day, stood there with her mouth open. She could have sworn she just heard Artemis ask her to move in with him. _But that couldn't be, could it?_ She thought, _I must have imagined it . . . _

She did not, in fact, imagine it. A moment later, Artemis continued.

"It is a large house," he said, "And I am unaccustomed to living alone. There is plenty of room, if this floor plan is correct, and I thought you might enjoy a larger living space than your apartment."

Holly finally managed to close her mouth, but her mind was still reeling. _Not having to visit, not worrying about his well being, having access to Artemis whenever I wanted him . . . _

"I . . . I need to think about this." She said weakly.

"Of course," Artemis said, unphased, "Take the key, whatever you decide, you're always welcome in this house. Speaking of which, let's check it out." The normally stoic genius genuinely seemed excited. He had, after all, never owned a house before. _At least, _he thought, _not legally._

The house was amazing. There was a state of the art entertainment room, complete with several extremely comfortable couches. Next they found the kitchen, which would have allowed Butler to try every style of cooking he knew (which was an exceedingly large number) and more. There were several bedrooms, including two master bedrooms. Due to a need for security, the recycling lounges and toilet ponds connected to these bedrooms and anywhere else in the house were only technically separate, and were dug out of the surrounding rock. The house was one of many made to house the Council in case of emergency, and as such extended into a bunker beneath the ground. This was a seamless transition, with each floor containing a small central lounge with rooms coming off of it. It only extended 2 levels into the bedrock, but the entire structure was made to be accommodating as possible. The Council had to have style, after all.

As she went through the building with Artemis, she found it harder and harder to reason against moving in with him. She'd had her apartment for years, it was home to her. _But what if I could make this my new home?_ She'd certainly managed to make herself at home in Fowl Manor . . .

In the end she compromised. She would give herself a week. In that time she would try to pack her things, thinking about moving the whole time. If she couldn't bring herself to do it, then so be it, but otherwise, she would see where things were going.

She couldn't figure out why she was having such a hard time with all of this. Normally she wouldn't even consider moving in with someone, she liked living alone. But Artemis wasn't normal. She certainly didn't act the same about anyone like she did him. _What is it with this damn mud boy?_

Artemis took in the house with his normal scrutiny. Due to the vast resources at the Council's disposal, there was not a single item out of place in the small (compared to Fowl Manor) house. _And even Butler __would feel more comfortable knowing the security on this building_, He thought, _I'm living in a bunker, literally_.

Artemis felt a bit of homesickness as he thought about the large manservant. Despite his position as bodyguard for Artemis, Butler had opted to stay on the surface. He had in the past displayed an enormous discomfort in the city built for people under half his size. When Artemis had made his intentions clear, Butler had made the decision that, because his charge would be sticking to Holly like glue, his services would not only be unnecessary once Artemis lived below ground, but would be detrimental to both his mental health and Artemis' transition.

At this point Artemis and Holly returned to the car and, upon opening the trunk, Holly saw that Artemis had anticipated the Council allowing him to live in Haven. Inside were 4 decent sized suitcases. This and a laptop bag were all that Artemis had brought with him from the surface. They were mostly clothes, and thus light enough that between the two of them it only took two trips. Money was another story.

"How are you going to survive without the precious Fowl family fortune?" Holly asked, sitting on top of the small pile of suitcases in the largest bedroom.

"Butler is, as we speak, collecting all my remaining money from accounts world wide." He began, speaking matter-of-factly. "He will then convert it all to gold, which will then be shipped down here by the Council."

"I thought your will had already been taken care of, where is all the money coming from?" she asked.

"Most of it was left to my family. They never collected it out of my accounts and when I proved to be quite alive, they simply gave back control. I have somewhere in the vicinity of two hundred million pounds."

After Holly got over the thought of how much gold that converted into, their conversation was interrupted by the chauffeur ringing the doorbell. Artemis crossed to a small computer panel in the wall next to the door to the room, bringing up a two-way video screen.

"Sir? You have an appointment in forty-five minutes," He said, "If you wish to drop off miss Short before hand we should leave now."

"Thank you, we'll be out shortly." Artemis closed the connection and turned to Holly. "He's only around until the gold comes through and I can buy my own transportation. Until then it seems the Council want an eye kept on me."

Holly was going to protest being left out of two meetings in one day, but decided it would probably wind up the same as the last time she had tried. The car ride was again awkwardly silent, and fifteen minutes later she was home.

She walked to a small storage closet in one corner of her apartment. Inside, on the floor, were the same plain plastic storage bins she had used when she had moved in. She removed a few and began taking small things from around her spartan living space and putting them in the boxes. Instead of being unable to pack each sentimental item, as she had expected, she found herself thinking about where in the big house they would go. _Artemis doesn't have any decorations, with his permission, this could go __on that little table in the hall. This would look good in the middle of that big dining table. My picture of my parents would go next to our bed. _Holly stopped suddenly. _My bed . . . not ours . . . _She couldn't shake the thought from her head. The idea that Holly had been trying to ignore ever since Artemis had kissed her the morning after his resurrection came into her mind. Artemis hadn't been a friend for some time. She didn't go the lengths she had gone for Artemis for her friends. _Stop being silly, he's a _human_ for Frond's sake! _ Holly shook her head, bidding the memory of the kiss to fall away. _Just wishful thinking, it'd never work . . . he won't even live to see you middle aged!_

-Across the cavern-

Artemis waited in a small, white room. On one wall was a small counter with several drawers, a monitor, and a sink. In the middle was an examining table, upon which he sat. The exam had been short, with a nurse simply coming by to collect samples of blood and the warlock running a quick scan via magic. He hadn't even needed to disrobe. He had, however, been waiting for forty-five minutes for the results of what he had been assured would be fifteen minute blood tests. When the door next opened, he was mildly surprised to see Foaly walking in, rather than the medical warlock. Behind him, Artemis saw the telltale horns and spiraling rune of No. 1, his demonic friend.

"To what do I owe this visit? I take it you're not just visiting to wish me luck in my surgery." He said, looking from Foaly to No. 1.

"Not exactly," Foaly said, wringing his hands, "There was apparently some slight . . . alterations made during your time in the chrysalis. We think it was pre-programmed to do so, a sort of last option for Koboi . . ."

He hesitated, causing Artemis to prompt him. "Get to the point, Foaly, what's happened?"

"It seems your DNA was crossed with fairy genotypes." Foaly said, after a long pause. He hurried the words out, not sure of what Artemis' reactions would be. When he offered none, Foaly continued. "I didn't have access to very advanced equipment when I was cloning you, and resorted to simply waiting for visual features to make sure it was you. There's no external changes, but from what we can tell, Opal programmed the machine to alter the pituitary gland of the subject. This would have resulted in Opal being able to mix human height and fairy magic."

Artemis saw where this was going, but Foaly continued before he could speak. "It's good she never acted on this contingency, as she would have been able to blend in on the surface without sacrificing her powers like before. As it is, I didn't have the know-how to change the settings . . ."

Foaly trailed off, looking between Artemis and No. 1. When nobody said anything, the imp warlock stepped forward.

"I get to see if you can hold magic again!" He said, as if he were suggesting a party, "We don't have a time tunnel, and infusions only work on those who can use magic without one, so it's time to check it out!"

Artemis was snapped out of his reverie at the end of his sentence, and looked up to see that the rune on his forehead was already spinning up. For the second time in as many minutes he was interrupted before a word could escape when a beam of red light hit him directly in the forehead. His mind was instantly engulfed in red light, and Artemis was shocked to discover that it wasn't just engulfing his mind, but _saturating_ it. After several minutes, his vision cleared, and he looked at No. 1 with a slight grin. "Tell me before you do that next time!" he said, but there was no rebuke in his voice. He held up his hands and, remembering back to his time on Hybras, sent a single spark spiraling off into the air.

No. 1 and Foaly both reacted instantly, No. 1 with a shout for joy at this wonder of magic and science, while Foaly slouched slightly. "Artemis Fowl with magic again, _great_." though his tone said otherwise.

The medical warlock came back and shooed the two from the room, anxious to finish the procedure and get paid. The council was paying an exorbitant fee to him and his staff to keep quiet about the procedure, and to also make sure it went down without a hitch. He pulled out two syringes, one with a clear liquid, and one with a hazel fluid that matced Holly's eye perfectly. _It should,_ Artemis thought, _I had them base it on a high definition picture of her eye._

"The first will bleach your retina of all colour, and the second, rather obviously, will re-dye it in the shade you requested." the warlock explained, motioning for him to lie back. Two rather painful pokes later, and the whole process was done. The injections had irritated Artemis' eye, and the warlock offered to heal it, unaware of what had progressed when he was in the hall. Artemis instead merely asked for a gauze patch to put over it for the time being, as he had a plan running through his head. _After all, I'll have to tell Holly, both about the eye and the magic, and I do enjoy shocking her._

**A/N: Wee! More cliffhangers! This way you all keep reading! Especially considering I don't quite like how the ending of this chapter came out, even after two re-writes.**

**Don't worry, production of chapter 5 has already begun!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Woo! Chapter 5! In which: Artemis and Holly finally explain their feelings through my way of interpreting the contents of the books!**

Brick turned the car back onto Holly's street. Artemis, feeling unusually conversational, had learned that the driver was called "Brick". It was a nickname given to him by Councilman Cahartez after he had made a few questionable turns early in his career. "Steers like a brick" was too long, so he shortened it.

Artemis got out of the car and walked to Holly's door. To an outside observer, his walk seemed sedate and calm, however a close friend or master of behavioral observation would notice a slight stiffness in his gait that gave away his underlying excitement. He reached the correct door and knocked several times. On the fifth knock, the door flew open.

"Decided not to just open it this time?" Holly said, grinning at her . . . friend. The grin quickly faded when she saw the gauze pad taped over his eye.

"What happened?!" she then realized that this was over the eye that, until recently, had been replaced. "I'm not giving you another eye, one was enough!"

"That will be most unnecessary captain," Artemis said smoothly, "May I come in?"

Holly stood aside and he stepped into the center of her living area. He turned to her and began removing the tape.

"I had a procedure done to my eye, the effects of which will be obvious." He said, wincing as the tape pulled on his skin. "While they were testing my blood, they found a few, abnormalities."

He pulled off the pad at last, and Holly gasped. The previously ice-blue eye was now Holly-hazel again, but the white was bloodshot with irritation. As she watched, blue sparks danced around the eye until the redness disappeared, leaving his eyes to once again mirror hers.

"Your eye . . . magic . . . but . . ." _You're doing it again. What is it about Artemis that leaves you so speechless all the time?_ Holly ran over and jumped on her small couch, putting her at eye level with Artemis. Before he could react, she scratched her nails across his cheek, leaving three angry red scratch marks.

"Ow!" Artemis exclaimed, giving her an incredulous look. The sparks came unconsciously, zipping up the lines until his face returned to its pale state. Holly couldn't contain herself anymore. She placed her hand back where the scratches had been, causing him to flinch. Before, he had recovered, she pressed her forehead against his. Artemis was confused until he felt Holly's magical probe. With a sudden jolt, she almost flew back from his head, overwhelmed by the magic inside him. _He's running hot! _She thought, shocked at the development. She also felt the familiar magical signature of No. 1's special blend.

Looking down from his forehead, where her gaze had been fixed for several seconds in the aftermath of the probe, Holly realized her face was very, very close to Artemis'. With slight hesitation, she leaned in and kissed him.

A second later, she broke the kiss. "You're an ass. You know that right?"

"Me? What have I done?" Artemis said, mock hurt on his face.

"A call would have been nice! 'Hey, I'm undergoing surgery so I can have a part of you looking me in the mirror again. Oh, and by the way, I have magic.' That simple!" she walked back to the bedroom, carefully tossing the picture she had still been staring at into the box of things she had been packing. _After that . . . there's no sense lying to yourself now. _She called back over her shoulder. "You specifically do these things to set me off my guard!"

Artemis thought about this for a moment. "Captain, I'm hurt," he said, still feigning innocence, "I try to show you a new development and decide to do so in person and you repay me with accusations of deceit, physical abuse, and forcing yourself upon me!"

"It's only forcing myself if you didn't want it." Holly said, still packing things and, turning, noticing Artemis helping, putting a few objects carefully in the box. She turned to face him, looking him directly in the eyes. "I'm willing to admit to it if you are," she said, suddenly sheepish, taking a few steps toward him. "Look at me and tell me that you don't think of me as more than a friend."

Artemis looked down, into her eyes that once again matched his. He opened his mouth several times, but each time, before he could say anything he stopped. After a few seconds of watching him imitate a fish out of water, Holly took action. She grabbed several pillow off of her futon and threw them at his head.

"Ow!" Artemis cried, more out of surprise than pain, "What was that for?" He was looking at her with another confused look.

"If you want me to move in with you, you're going to have to help out." Holly said, decisively.

She simply pointed to a box on the floor and returned to her packing. Artemis caught her meaning and began putting the pillows and various other related items in the box. After several minutes of silent packing, Holly spoke.

"So I guess that answers it." She said, turning to face the young man again.

"What?" Artemis said, halfway through trying to fold a large blanket by himself, and utterly failing to do so.

"You couldn't say it," she said, almost sheepishly, as if he would suddenly remember what he was trying to say and prove her wrong. "You _do_ think of me as more than a friend."

Artemis gave up with the blanket he had been tangling and sat on the futon. He was silent for a moment as he planned his sentences, then began.

"Holly, I've never thought of you as a mere _friend_." Under normal circumstances, this might have worried Holly, but his tone implied something. "When we first met, you were a hostage. Hardly the materials for a friendship. Then, in the Arctic, you were a teammate, we were just working together. It wasn't until you revived Butler that I realized we had moved passed that, but I didn't realize what it was until 'friend' had already been passed, in my mind. By the time we beat Koboi and I started my demon research, I thought of you as something more."

Holly moved to sit next to him, and he made some room. This proved futile as Holly sat as close to him as possible without sitting in his lap. _Though that would be nice . . . _Holly thought, before banishing the thought. _For now . . ._When she had settled, he continued.

"I was waiting for some sign that you returned the affections, or that they were not some product of my hormone-riddled mind." He recalled his brief fascinations with the driver, Maria and Minerva Paradizo. "I thought I had seen it in the gorilla cage at Rathdown park, but afterward . . . Anyway, I tried to push it from my mind, but it didn't work. After my resurrection I decided to pursue it again. I have been given a second chance at life, and I'll not make the same mistakes twice."

As Artemis spoke, he got closer and closer to Holly. As he finished, he finally closed the distance and punctuated his statement with a kiss. He was thrilled to find that she did not push away or try to back out, but simply returned the kiss, allowing the moment to extend, as if suspended in time.

A sarcastic voice broke them out of their daze.

"Are you two going to just sit around and neck all day?" the voice said, full of mocking disapproval, "I thought somebody was attempting a move."

Holly, who had broken away from Artemis when she heard the voice, rummaged through her pockets until she pulled out her communicator. On it, a small screen showed Foaly standing at what was unmistakably her door, grinning like an idiot at having interrupted the two. From out of the frame, another voice, far more gravelly, was heard.

"If you're not moving, I'll just be on my way." said Mulch, "No need to hang around . . ."

"I am moving," Said Holly, giving Artemis a smile as she finally confirmed it aloud, "And you _will_ help. Half of what's in this apartment was bought on your nagging anyway." Holly thought of the movie collection and modest entertainment center in her main room, which had been purchased after Mulch complained constantly that there was never anything to do while Holly planned stakeouts, an activity she demanded he be present for, as a warm body to talk to more than anything. There were also several items in the kitchen required for preparing foods that she had certainly never made.

Between the four friends, Holly's few belongings were all quickly stashed in the boxes and loaded in the back of Brick's car. Mulch and Foaly climbed into the centaur's newly refurbished van (Holly refused to call it the centaur mobile) while Artemis and Holly squeezed into whatever space was left in the back seat of the car, which had quickly been used as storage after the trunk had filled. Unfortunately for the two, they were unable to be close or even see each other due to the contents of the vehicle. Holly once again felt shy in Artemis' presence. He had, after all, admitted to having feelings for her for years. _What do I say now?_ She wondered to herself.

Before long, they had arrived at Artemis' house and, after getting the various boxes at the very least inside the house, Foaly and Mulch made various excuses for needing to leave abruptly. This left Artemis and Holly to unpack her things.

They started with the mundane, putting away the previously mentioned movies and appliances, then began decorating. Holly directed which box they were going to go through, shying away from one in particular. Artemis, of course, noticed this quickly and began plotting. He had, after all, been the one to pack the box and knew precisely what it contained. While Holly was distracted by placing a few of her pictures, Artemis picked up the box in question and began walking away with it. When Holly turned around, he had already rounded the corner of the short hallway and disappeared.

"Artemis!" she shouted, both angry and surprised, "Come back here!" Terrified, she realized immediately which box he had taken. From around the corner, his voice called back.

"You were taking too long to make your decision," He said as she ran after him, "So I took matters into my own hands."

She rounded the corner as she said this, finding him standing between the doors of the two master suites. On the floor at his feet was the box of her pillows, bedclothes, and sentimental items. _Things that go in a bedroom . . ._ She thought, staring at the box as if it were going to sprout fangs and bite her.

"I answered your question back at your previous residence," he said, almost emphasizing the _previous_ part, "But you never upheld your end of the deal."

"What deal?" She asked, momentarily distracted from the box.

"You said you were willing to admit feelings for me if I admitted them for you." He said, recalling the conversation, "I want to hear you say it."

Holly merely stood there for several seconds, mouth slightly agape. After a moment she began her own story.

"It was kind of sudden, almost jerky, like a shuttle that doesn't want to start." She said, now choosing to look at her feet, unable to look into those very familiar eyes, "For the longest time I saw you as the insolent mud boy who kidnapped me. Then I saw the way you cared for your father's safety, and that perception slipped a bit. It came back when you went up against Spiro. You were that meddling boy genius again, too caught up in your schemes to worry about Butler or the People."

Her face hardened momentarily as she remembered these events, her tone cold. "Then you lost your memory, and Julius died, and I felt like I was all alone, and in that moment, you tried to make me feel better, in your own way. You tried to convince me that you remembered, and that just before I died I was not alone. The perception of the spoiled brat slipped off, and I saw that you were capable of caring, and that you cared for me, even without knowing who I was. During the Hybras incident, you saved my life, standing in defiance of time itself to wipe my death off the record. I started to feel something then, something more."

Here she finally looked up, only to find that Artemis wasn't making eye contact either. In fact, he looked nervous, as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. She decided the answer was to put them in hers, and walked up to him, taking his hands. This got his attention, and when he looked into her eyes she continued.

"During our trip to Rathdown park, I felt guilt and pain over what I thought I put you through, and I wanted to make it go away, so in my artificially teenaged confusion I embraced the other end of the spectrum. I allowed myself to care openly for you, to feel what I wanted to feel. Afterward I was so angry that I decided it was a mistake, that it could never happen again. Then you broke, and I felt it was my fault for letting the guilt of lying to me bury you. When Orion professed his love for me, I realized how much lying to me had taken from you. And when you died . . . I couldn't take it."

Holly stood on her toes and, barely reaching, managed to touch her lips to Artemis'. He responded by bending slightly, allowing the kiss to deepen. After a minute, she broke away for air.

"You got a second chance at life, and through that, so did I." she finished, pressing her forehead to Artemis'.

After another minute, Artemis stepped back. He held his arms out, gesturing to the two doors.

"You have a choice. We can take it slowly, feeling our way through, and you can take the spare master bedroom. Or we can dive in, and neither of us has to sleep in an empty bed tonight. It's up to you."

Holly looked down again, the box was at her feet. Which did she want? It wasn't a huge decision, as she had decided several hours ago that even if things developed, she would want to wait before she "slept" with him, but sleeping with him . . . that was another story. _It's not like you can't do that if you live in the other room_ the side of her brain that still had doubts said. _On the other hand, you've waited for years, and now you have him _said the side that was ready to through caution to the wind.

Making a decision, took a deep breath and picked up the box.

**What will she choose? Where will she sleep? Where had Jay jay been all this time? Wait . . . that's not important . . . **

**Review the chapter and make your decision: Do Artemis and Holly take the plunge? Or do they let things take their course? It probably won't include smut yet as I don't yet feel I could write it well enough.**

**The most votes decide the chapter! (said chapter will also answer questions about Artemis' newest talent!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here it is! You voted and I procrastinated! . . . I mean wrote . . . yeah, that. Anyway, the final vote was 2.75 for and 1.25 against! . . . only four of you voted . . . But your votes and suggestions were received and shall be at the very least used as inspiration during writers' block!**

**Now quiet, the show's starting.**

Holly looked at the box in her hands. Then back to the two rooms in front of her. Slowly, with deliberate hesitation, she walked into the spare master bedroom. When she saw the disappointed look on Artemis' face, she quickly explained.

"I just want to see what it's like," She said, trying to be reassuring, though she didn't know to whom, "this way I can see if I like sleeping alone, or if I want some company." She felt this was sound reasoning, and so she walked into the spare room. She didn't bother unpacking it yet, there were more important things to do, less long term things.

Artemis was relatively silent as the unpacked the rest of the items Holly had brought with her. He had few possessions from the surface so almost all of the aesthetic touches were provided by her meager belongings. In the end, however, the bunker looked far more like a home and less like a shelter.

Later that evening, Artemis was doing his best to cook a small dinner, (vegetable soup, a simple recipe that Butler had drilled into his head) managing not to burn anything beyond edibility. After several minutes of frantic preparations, he noticed a lack of Holly anywhere near the kitchen. It was a fairly open space to the rest of the area, and he couldn't see her anywhere in the floor's central space.

Filing this away, he turned back to his cooking. Within a few minutes, Holly appeared as if from nowhere to help in the last minute, preventing a simple meal from becoming an inter-species incident. Dinner was similarly quiet, as Artemis was still saddened by her earlier choice. Finally, Artemis decided there was nothing left to do, and obviously neither had anything to say, so he walked back towards the bedroom, Holly just behind him. When he reached the door, he turned.

"Alright then Holly, I guess this is good night." He was almost stiff in his farewell trying to be stoic about the situation. "I shall see you in the morning."

She said nothing, so he turned and walked into his bedroom.

Then he stopped.

The sheets on the bed were not his, and the pictures on the far bedside table were certainly not his family. Confused, he turned to Holly.

"If you wanted the room, you could have allowed me to move my things first."

Holly walked over and sat on the bed, motioning for Artemis to join her.

"I could have, yes," she said, a small grin forming as Artemis took the seat, "but if you leave the room, so does my reason for choosing it."

"But I thought," Artemis stuttered, confused, "you wanted to try being separate."

Holly hopped up and collected a pile of folded clothes, heading towards a small room containing a sink and shower near the tunnel to the recycling lounge. "I did," She said, closing the door and raising her voice, "I failed. Now are you going to change? I won't sleep next to a man in a suit."

* * *

Holly awoke the next morning and for a second found herself confused by the strange surroundings. Then she felt the arm over her midsection and the warm body tucked under the covers with her. She smiled as she remembered who the body belonged to and the events leading up to this perfect morning.

Gingerly, she slid out from under the arm and the blankets, only afterward seeing that she needn't have bothered, as Artemis was still deep asleep. Quietly, she moved across the room to her dresser and chose a few casual clothing items. She had the day off from work so she and Artemis could run some errands and finish with the house. As they had worked quickly and finished moving last night, this meant she had a lot of time today to show Artemis her city and generally spend time with him. As she showered and got ready for the day, she realized that the last time Artemis had spent any significant time in Haven was when he was hospitalized in Argon's clinic, and thus unable to explore.

When she finished her shower and reentered the bedroom, Artemis was now sitting up in bed, his laptop already open, typing quickly. As she approached, he closed the computer and set it aside.

"Are you going to get ready?" She asked, feigning impatience, "We haven't got all day, we need to get you to the hospital for those tests."

"Ah yes," said Artemis, "Time to see just how much of me is me, and how much is Opal's chrysalis."

Artemis got up and walked to a wardrobe, picking out a black suit. He could feel Holly rolling her eyes at his formality, but he ignored it. He was in an unfamiliar setting, and his suits comforted him. Like Holly he showered and got ready for the day, and within 20 minutes met her in the kitchen for breakfast, which consisted of some store bought pastries they had bought the day before. Soon, Brick arrived to take them to the hospital.

Holly hated waiting. Waiting for battle, waiting for assignments, or worst of all, waiting in hospitals. She hadn't been in one since her mother's death of radiation poisoning, and the memories of long waits while medical warlocks tried procedure after procedure still haunted her while she waited for Artemis' appointment to start. Foaly was supposed to stop by to keep her company, but he was nowhere to be found. Finally, she sent him a text inquiring as to his whereabouts, and threatening him with violence should he not make haste. In reality it read more like "Where are you? Get your equine butt down here before I find you and kick it here myself."

Not long after she sent it, from around the corner she heard a phone going off around the corner. Listening to the tune, she realized it could only be Foaly.

_We call upon our troopers, in this our darkest hour,  
Our way of life is what we're fighting for,  
The flag that flies above us, inspires us each day,  
To give our very best, in every way!_

_It's a good day to die,  
When you know the reasons why,  
Citizens, we fight for what is right,  
A noble sacrifice,  
When duty calls, you pay the price,  
For the Federation I will give my life!_

Holly turned on Foaly as he rounded the corner, frantically digging in a pocket to silence the communicator. She recognized the song from a series of movies Foaly and Mulch had forced her to watch. They were based on some mud-man political novel, and featured a group of soldiers in an endless war against arachnid foes. Foaly had long joked that the gung-ho attitude suited Holly, but this was too far.

"What's that?" she said, the grin on her face far from joking. In fact it looked almost predatory.

"Just a joke Holly," the centaur said, having finally silenced the music, "Everyone does it, brightens the day a bit. Are you telling me you've never set joke ringtones for your friends?"

Holly thought about it, and realized she hadn't. All her friends were related to work, and she didn't feel right having personal effects, such as a special ringtone, for work-related business. _I wonder if Artemis does it . . . _Holly got a terrible idea.

Moving to sit next to Artemis, she carefully applied some of Mulch's training, particularly pick-pocketing. By the time Artemis realized what was happening, she had taken his phone.

"Wait! Don't -" He started, but it was too late, she had found her contact and pressed play. Strains of music played from the small speaker.

_Auburn hair and ruby lips  
sparks fly from her finger tips  
Echoed voices in the night  
she's a restless spirit on an endless flight_

_wooo hooo witchy woman, see how  
high she flies  
woo hoo witchy woman she got  
the moon in her eye_

The music cut off. Before it could repeat, Holly dropped the phone as if it were hot.

"Witchy woman?" She said, glaring at the unfortunate mud-boy.

"That wasn't quite the reasoning for choosing that song . . ." Artemis said, realizing it wouldn't help him. When Holly decided she was angry with him, it would take her being totally distracted before she would give it up. He decided he would change the setting as soon as possible.

Before he could, his name was called. After being left in the room for a time, nurses came in to collect blood, urine, and magic for sampling. Artemis was interested in the small battery he charged with sparks from his hands, but was not given time to examine it. After several long minutes, the warlock stepped in.

"It appears your encounter with cloning has left some rather fortunate marks on your genes." He said, examining his charts, "According to this, you are not quite half fairy, but enough to count."

"What of the magic?" Artemis inquired, "What effect will that have?"

"We'll have to check again after you attempt the ritual," the Warlock said, still not looking up, "but it appears you will live a fairly lifespan as the magic regenerates your body."

"While will we have to wait?" Artemis said, not happy with the nature of this exam. He was having to ask more questions than he wanted.

"Because the traitor's magic is implanted, we cannot run our own tests until you have your own."

"Traitor?" Artemis was worried now. Something was wrong, and Butler could not be summoned.

Before he could react, the warlock dropped a small, rune-etched stone. As it left his hand, a shape-shifting spell unraveled, revealing the buck demon standing before him. Before he could call out, the demon produced a second stone, this one he pressed to Artemis' chest, causing a charge to spread across his body, knocking him unconscious.

In the waiting area, Holly was growing impatient again. _More procedures . . . No! It's just a check-up_. She banished the negative thoughts from her head and typed a message to ask Artemis how it was going. In an eerie repeat of earlier events, a song played from around the corner. _He's playing with me!_ She thought, once again annoyed, but at the same time looking forward to seeing Artemis again. As she walked towards the corner she listened to the music playing, as Artemis had taken some time to change the tone.

_Though I've tried before to tell her  
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart  
Every time that I come near her  
I just lose my nerve as I've done from the start_

_Every little thing she does is magic_  
_Everything she doe just turns me on_  
_Even though my life before was tragic_  
_Now I know my love for her goes on_

Holly was amused at the fitting lyrics, but still annoyed that he was hiding from her. As she rounded the corner, however, she didn't see Artemis. A little ways down the corridor was a trash can, from which the sound seemed to be coming. _If he's trying to hide behind a trash can he should really turn off the phone._ She thought. Almost pouncing, she rounded the trash can, revealing . . . nothing? The music was repeating the two verses, clearly clipped for those lyrics. Holly removed the lid of the trashcan and looked in. Inside was the phone, the alert for Holly's text still flashing. Slowly, she picked it up and deactivated it.

Then realization dawned on her. She ran around the corner and nearly ran head first into Foaly, running in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, they blurted out their frantic news.

"Artemis has been taken!"

"I know Holly," Foaly said quickly, putting his hands on her shoulders, "the warlock was a disguised demon, he took Artemis and left the hospital using some sort of spell stored in a rune stone."

"They left his phone in the trash" Holly said, producing the device. As she pulled it free from her pocket it went off, not displaying a number. Gingerly, Holly answered it.

"We have the mud-man infiltrator. Bring us the traitor No. 1 or we will kill him." * click *

**A/N: Woo! Evilness is afoot! Why are there demons trying to get to No. 1? Why have the kidnapped Artemis? What will happen?**

**Find out in the next chapter of _The Next Adventure_**

**P. S.: I know that the lyics to "Witchy Woman" start with "raven hair", but that wouldn't fit the story, would it?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the sheer amount of time it took to publish this. You can take one of two options: one is that I got swamped with work and homework and used the extra time to put a lot into the story, or two is that I got netflix, procrastinated terribly, and put a lot of extra work into the story.**

**Due to some rather severe writer's block, it's the shortest chapter since the first, but hopefully you all enjoy it.**

**Anyway, here it is.**

Artemis was groggy when he regained consciousness. As such, he did not immediately recognize his surroundings. It was a place his mind had constructed as place of shelter, where one would observe what was happening from a third party perspective.

Unfortunately, it was also a prison, and it was supposed to be gone.

-Police Plaza-

Foaly was worried. And when Foaly was worried, it showed. What remained of his hair was disheveled, his coat had lost all trace of a shine, and he was jumpy. And when a centaur gets jumpy, that's a lot of jumpy. After knocking over an equipment cart 3 times, he finally decided to sit down in order to stop himself destroying something.

The reason for his worry was what they had found where Artemis had been kidnapped. In the exam room was a smooth river stone with a single rune carved into it. The stone looked harmless enough, but it wasn't what it looked like that mattered, it's what it used to contain. The stone held traces of magic. The magic itself was simple, a shape-shifting spell to make the user look like one of the medical warlocks from the hospital. What was worrying was that this magic was old, and very powerful.

His work was interrupted by Holly and Trouble. Holly hadn't had time to change yet and was still in her civilian clothing. The two looked just as bad as he was, for various reasons. Holly had her obvious reasons, and hadn't so much as sat down since the kidnapping. Trouble was strained because it was his responsibility to keep an eye on Artemis and his neck on line if he was hurt. More importantly if he held the council responsible for said injuries.

"Ok Foaly, no jargon." Trouble started, annoyance clear in his voice, "I've just had to listen to the council subtly threaten to make me disappear in any one of several terrible ways if Artemis complains about so much as a hangnail. And then, after that, it got scary. I rode here with Holly."

He didn't elaborate, but Foaly could guess. Holly could get imaginative when she was mad.

"Here's what we know. Using this stone and ones like it, a demon buck managed to pass for an elf warlock, knock out Artemis, and exfiltrate from the hospital unnoticed. It wasn't until a nurse noticed they were gone and found the stones that we figured it out." Foaly showed them the stone, and the screen displayed an unraveling of the spell.

Holly noticed something immediately. She had minored in magic in college and knew enough from No. 1 about demon magic to understand what was on the screen.

"Foaly, this is advanced. Apart from the demon warlocks there hasn't been magic like this since the battle of Tailte."

"Which is why it's so troubling," Said Foaly, "All three demons with this capability are currently working for the LEP and, frankly, think of No. 1, you, and Artemis as heroes after the Hybras incident. Whatever this is, it's more power than we've ever dealt with."

-Artemis' brain-

Artemis was sitting in his desk chair in what appeared to be his study. There were no computers, however, only a wall sized screen displaying what his body was currently experiencing. Currently it was dark, as he was either unconscious or blindfolded.

He stood up and crossed to the screen. In the past, he had been able to regain control by crawling through the screen, or at least he had tried. Fortunately, he was no longer plagued by the Atlantis Complex, and should be able to make it through without incident.

"I wouldn't try that, it's not exactly nice out there, you're unconscious for a reason." Said a voice from behind him. Artemis recognized the voice immediately. After all, it was his own. "You have been put into an artificial slime cocoon and placed in an imp warping vat."

Orion Fowl, delusional figment of Artemis' broken mind, was sitting at the desk chair. Unlike Artemis, who was almost always was found in a black Armani suit, Orion was dressed in all white, from his silk shirt to his leather shoes, he was as opposite as possible for the same person.

"Why are you here?" Artemis asked, "You're supposed to be nothing more than a bad memory."

Orion chuckled, "As it turns out, the treatment for Atlantis complex is only partially effective, or at least so in our case. While it cured you of the paranoia and split personalities, it didn't entirely remove me." At this point Orion got up and began walking around the room. "Think of me as a manifestation of your conscience. I sit in your head and tell you what you should and shouldn't feel guilty about. I have quite a bit of influence in some areas, actually. Moving to Haven, asking Holly to move in, declaring your love for her, to name a few."

A normal person might have trouble with this, but Artemis wasn't normal. He had dealt with things that would send most people gibbering to the mad house on a disturbingly regular basis. Orion made sense, and he couldn't deny it.

Artemis straightened his tie. "Alright then, when it comes to physical altercations, you're the expert. How do we get out of this one?"

-Police Plaza-

No. 1 examined the rune stone. According to Qwan, a powerful enough spell could be embedded in a smooth river stone. In the various conflicts between humans and fairies leading up to the massive and final battle of Tailte, both sides had used them to great effect, before human strains of magic died out.

"I should look into this, it'd be nice to be able to store a spell for a rainy day." He thought out loud. There was his mistake.

"Oh, well, the man I love is taken hostage by a maniac demon who wants you dead, but it's all okay, because you can use the technique used by the kidnapper for your own gain." came an acidic voice from behind him.

No. 1 had forgotten Holly was in the room with him. She had, understandably, been cross with everybody. She had made No. 1's assistant cry by blaming the whole incident on her.

"Okay, good news then." He said, quickly changing the subject, "This kind of magic leaves a strong signature, and we can trace that back to whoever made it."

"That's great!" and for the first time all day, Holly sounded genuine.

"And bad news." No. 1 subtly put up a magical barrier, just in case, "The magic belongs to Qweffor, who, for the last six months, has been on the moon station. He went up as my relief when I came back for Artemis' funeral."

To No. 1's credit, the magical barrier he put up lasted for several seconds before Holly's hands, attempting to strangle him, shattered it.

-Artemis' brain-

Artemis picked at his suit. This was just a nervous habit as the suit, generated by his mind, was spotless. What he was about to face was going to be difficult.

"Alright, if my theories are right, this should work." he said, trying to reassure himself. His theories were always right. "By re-integrating you into my psyche, I should be able to access your skills, and these little talks should be eliminated."

Together, Artemis and Orion turned to the screen. According to his theory, the reason neither of them could pass through the barrier was because he was not, currently, whole. Apparently his subconscious had decided that head trauma was the perfect time to make him work out the last of his mental break.

The trip through the barrier was surprisingly short. Unfortunately, this meant that in no time at all, he was lying uncomfortably in slime, surrounded by dung.

But now, he had a plan.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter should be a bit better than the last one, as my writer's block seems to have broken a tiny bit.**

**This chapter should also clear up some of the concerns I've heard in relation to the form of demon that attacked Artemis. Yes, it was meant to be a buck, now sit back and enjoy.**

The first thing Artemis noticed was the smell. He woke up in a slime cocoon, as Orion said he would, but he wasn't quite prepared for the smell. While the cocoon filtered oxygen for him to breath, it didn't keep out the smell of the dung-based mixture of the warping pit. _Definitely demons then_, Artemis thought, followed by _Now think like Holly, Artemis. Get out without injuring yourself_.

The second thought was not his, but Orion becoming a part of him again. Though the feeling of someone else thinking in his head was strange, Artemis knew it would pass. Mentally checking his magic, and grateful to find himself still running hot, Artemis tried to think of what Holly would do in this situation. _Get out to the cocoon, without drowning in dung_, He thought, cringing at the image.

Gathering a portion of the magic, he formed a shell around himself, shattering the cocoon while holding the sludge at bay. Above him was a square of light, and Artemis reached for it. Finding a ledge, he grabbed on and began pulling himself up. He found that he could solidify part of the bubble to help him push, but was dismayed to find it would not hold his full weight. When he tried, it faltered slightly and his loafer sank half an inch into the sludge.

Eventually, he was able to struggle free, though not without further incidents. By the time he made it out his shoes were ruined and he smelled terrible, but at least he was free.

Looking around, he found himself in some kind of storage area. _This vat is probably only used in emergencies_, He thought, _Or for the occasional prisoner_. On the table nearby was a small pile of stones, each with an identical rune on it. Remembering his assault at the hospital, Artemis noted the pile. Picking one up, he found that he could sense the spell inside, and how to change it. _That might come in handy later_, He thought, and also _Good, you're thinking strategically. You're on your own, so you have to use all those skills Butler and Holly taught you that you ignored_.

Outside the chamber was a long corridor. At one end was the room Artemis currently occupied, and the other end disappeared around a corner several meters away. Slowly, doing his best to keep silent with his squelching shoes, Artemis made his way to the end. On his left was another door, and further down was a room out of which gravely voices could be heard. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he recognized a demonic accent when he heard one. _Best try the one on the left then_, he thought, _No need to announce myself, no matter how theatrical it would be_. Artemis was surprised when the suggestion came from him, instead of Orion. Searching inwardly, he heard a voice: _You're starting to come together, so from now on the thinking is going to be less of the two of us, and more of a whole_.

For a moment, Artemis was anxious. Though he was just another personality, Orion was the only company he had right now. Losing him would mean he was truly alone. _For the first time in years, completely alone_. He thought, _No fairies, no bodyguards, just you_.

Artemis shook himself, and proceeded to the first door. Carefully, he tried the handle, finding it unlocked. Inside was what appeared to be an operations center. Whatever was going on down the hall must have been important, as the room was unmanned. Crossing to a small, portable computer, Artemis sat down. _Think Artemis, what do you know?_ He thought, _These computers are portable, so they don't stay put. They used that pit room for multiple purposes, so they're a small group. They managed to kidnap me from under the eyes of the LEP and Holly, so they've been planning. Put it all together!_

Artemis looked through the files on the computer, looking for anything useful. Finally, in a folder marked "Initiation", he found a document marked "Manifesto". Opening it, the title made his blood run cold.

**We are the Tribe of N'Zall, Followers of our King Leon Abbot**

Suddenly it made sense. N'Zall was a demon who proclaimed himself King of Hybras under the name of Leon Abbot. He was cunning, vengeful, and most of all, he had stolen the warlock Qweffor's magic. The document laid out how N'Zall had created the stones and entrusted them to his closest followers as a backup, in case his plans went wrong. They were to use them to capture the most powerful demon warlock available and help reclaim his dominion.

_They've been waiting for the perfect moment to try to seize No. 1_, Thought the Orion voice, _And there you were, the perfect target_. Artemis squelched the guilt. He couldn't afford the time for introspection. _I have to find a way of getting a message to the LEP_, He thought. Locating the base communications equipment, a bulky device that looked as if it had been torn from a shuttle, he was dismayed to find it was locked by a password. The only function he had was a distress beacon, which was set to activate alarms when used. _No other choice, _he thought, and pressed the button.

-Police Plaza-

"I don't get it," Trouble said, exhausted after his day of briefings and meetings, "Demon bucks don't have magic, they rely on teeth, claws, and armor to get what they need. How in Frond's name did one manage to use several high level spells to kidnap Artemis?"

Foaly was equally exhausted after a day of explaining things to everybody, and snapped at the commander. "We've explained this! The stones are a repository of magic, they don't require any magic to use. Through a huge expenditure of power, demon warlocks are able to store everything the caster needs in one stone, that's why only they have been able to do it so far. All you have to do it pick one up, and viola, you're magical for a spell."

The commander was about to make a comeback, but before the argument could start both parties received sharp blows their respective shoulders. Neither one did anything about this, as the blows had come from Holly, who had moved from threats to violence for whomever delayed the rescue of Artemis. An unfortunate cadet, who had carelessly suggested the LEP simply let them kill "the mud man" was still in the infirmary.

Before any more damage could be done, a nearby monitor started flashing a warning. Moving over, Foaly began tapping the keyboard.

"It's a shuttle distress call." Foaly said, continuing his tapping as more windows appeared.

"Let Retrieval deal with it," Holly snapped, spinning her chair to look at Foaly, "We have more important things to do."

"Wait, there's something here," Foaly wasn't looking away from the monitor anymore, the incoming data taking his full attention. "The signal's old, we haven't used this carrier wave for decades, and it's coming from inside Haven."

That was as far as he got before Holly pushed him aside. Reading the coordinate data carefully, she ran to the far wall and grabbed a pistol of off Foaly's rack. Turning to the exit, she called back to Trouble.

"Bring a retrieval squad and meet me at those coordinates," she said, holstering the gun, "and bring a warlock, there will be wounded."

With that, she grabbed a pair of wings and left. Trouble was standing there with his mouth open.

"She knows she can't have that equipment off-duty, right?" was all his brain came up with.

"I'm betting she does," Foaly said, tapping in the order for a retrieval mission using Trouble's codes, "But when have the rules ever stood between Holly Short and the things she cares about?"

-Over Haven-

Holly opened the throttle on her wings, dodging stalactites. The wings weren't meant to function within the close confines of the city, and whined their protest. Soon, however, she was over a less crowded industrial district, where the signal had originated.

Before she could bet there, however, she was thrown back by an explosion. Quickly regaining control, she brought the wings to a hover. Looking out over the city, she didn't need her heads-up display to tell her that the explosion had come from the same coordinates as the distress signal.

"Artemis!" she yelled, diving at the plume of smoke.

* * *

In the aftermath of the Koboi incident, much of Haven was rebuilt. The People were quick to learn from mistakes, and had made sure that the city was prepared for future attacks. This meant that all the buildings rebuilt from the explosions had been reinforced and restructured, so when the explosion tore through them, a bit of broken glass and mortar dust was all that showed any evidence in the nearby buildings.

The demon hideout, on the other hand, was leveled. Shortly after Holly had landed, emergency teams had arrived to find her trying to lift a slab of rubble with her bare hands. There was speculation that, if left to the task, she would have succeeded.

Trouble and Foaly arrived a few minutes after the teams, having taken time to make sure that all the equipment Foaly would need to find out exactly what had happened was in his ops shuttle. Trouble stepped out to see Holly fighting his men to get back to the rescue effort.

"SHORT!" he yelled, pulling himself up to full height before stepping towards the officer, "Do you realize you could have been killed? You're out of control. I'm officially ordering you to stay off of this case."

For a brief second, Holly stopped fighting. Then she launched herself at the commander. Unfortunately, she was angry, and he was prepared. He sidestepped her clumsy lunge and put out a foot, causing her to fall to the ground. Finding it was the best method of holding her still, he then proceeded to literally sit on the angry captain.

"LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" She yelled, fighting in vain to dislodge him. Trouble simply readjusted himself, furthering his control over her.

"You misunderstand me captain." He said, trying to calm her, "Imagine Artemis going through what you went through. Imagine him losing the one person under the world he cares about. Right now, we need you alive." As his words sank in, Holly stopped fighting. After a few seconds, Trouble let her up. "Now, according to what the rescue teams sent us on the way over here, there is currently no evidence of anyone having been inside the building, which means Artemis is probably still alive. I need you to go home and wait for further instructions, we don't want you getting hurt trying to save Artemis."

Holly glared at him for a second before storming off. She had taken off her equipment to dive into the rubble, so she was free to leave the site without having to go through the ops booth. Foaly was her friend, but right now a comforting gesture was not what she wanted.

-Downtown Haven-

Haven is comparable to many human cities, it has residential and industrial areas, a business district, and a lively Downtown sector filled with clubs, shops, and, the thing Holly was looking for most at the moment, bars.

Fairies don't drink very much, and too much will rob them of magic for a time, however they can get drunk. Upon entering a bar, Holly's wrist was stamped with a biochemical ink. On top of keeping track of entry and exit from the bar, all of Haven's alcohol-serving establishments used the ink to track alcohol intake. When a fairy reaches a point near the danger mark for magical loss, the stamp begins to glow, resulting in the fairy being removed from the bar, and the stamp ensured that no other establishment would allow them in. Doing so was a felony offense.

Holly had no intention of getting kicked out, and thus drank sparingly, ordering food from the short menu offered by the bar she had chosen. It was often frequented by LEP officers, as the owner was a retired retrieval sprite. He had left the force after a troll had severed one of this wings, leaving him grounded for life.

Holly tucked herself away in a corner with a bottle of elfin wine and began to sulk. She was angry with Commander Kelp for ordering her off of the search, but understood his logic. She had thought solely about saving Artemis, without thinking about the consequences of putting herself at risk.

As her bottle emptied, Holly thought more and more about her career and her relationships. Somewhere, the part of her brain still capable of clear thought made a decision.

-Police Plaza, the next day-

Holly was on duty again, but while she was in uniform and in the office, she had little to do. Almost all of the Plaza was working on finding Artemis, leaving her to sit in her office and catch up on paperwork. Finally, after a few hours, Foaly came in.

"Holly? Can you come with me? It's about Artemis." He said simply, concern on his face.

"I thought I was off the assignment?" Holly asked, confused.

"You are, but this concerns you." With that, Foaly walked out the door, trotting down the hallway. Holly got up and followed him to the ops booth.

On the table was a third stone, identical to the two they had found at the hospital. Judging by the burn marks, Holly assumed it was from the explosion.

"We found this in the wreckage. We thought it was just left behind, but on a hunch we examined it anyway. You're going to want to see this." With that, Foaly tapped a few button, and a holographic projector above him hummed to life. "The stone contained a message in the form of a magical construct. We were able to record it using our equipment."

A three dimensional model of Artemis formed in the middle of the room. Holly took an instinctual step towards the projection, momentarily elated to see him again before she remembered the circumstances. A moment later, the message started.

"Foaly, as I assume it is Foaly who has found this, I am leaving this to tell you that I am, as of yet, unharmed. I would tell you to pass this along to Holly if I were not also sure she is watching. I have sent a distress call, which if you are receiving this you have undoubtedly gotten." As Artemis said this, a loud banging began behind him. "The demons holding me will likely have moved on from this location by the time you get here, as they seem to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. They may also be ready to demolish the building to get rid of evidence, thus I will be leaving this message in the warping chamber in which I was imprisoned. Unsanitary, I know, but necessary. I must end soon, as the table I have in front of the door is beginning to buckle." Indeed the banging noises seemed to be getting louder. "The demons are loyal to N'Zall, and they need No. 1 to bring him back to power. Though I know she will protest, you must ensure that Holly puts the well-being of The People above my own. They must not get No. 1." Artemis abruptly stopped here, turning slightly. A loud cracking noise was heard, and several clawed hands entered the recording. Then Artemis turned his hand, dropping the stone and the spell.

As the the hologram projector cycled down, Foaly had a terrible thought. Before Holly could react, he ran from the room, leaving her alone.

She wandered down the hall, the last few days' events replaying in her head, making what she had to do more important. Finding, Trouble's office, she knocked and entered.

"Can I help you, captain?" Trouble asked, surrounded by reports from various departments about the case.

"Is there still a major position open in recon?" Holly asked, taking a seat.

"So far. Apparently none of you hot shots can stand the thought of a desk job." Trouble put down the data pad he was working on, sensing something coming.

"I'd like to put myself in the running for it, sir." Holly said, not quite believing it. Before Trouble could react, however, Foaly ran in, not bothering with knocking.

"Abbot is gone!" He yelled, seeming crazed. "The guinea pig, it's gone!"

**To be continued in Chapter Nine!**

**I apologize if this chapter gets long-winded. I had a lot of ideas in my head that needed to be put down, and I feel I didn't put them together well. **

**If any of you have suggestions for how to get rid of writer's block, I'm open to them, as I don't want to wind up abandoning this project due to lack of material like a few of my older ones.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the wait again. College is HARD. But here's chapter 9, I seriously hope you guys are still out there. Hello? Hello?**

In the aftermath of Foaly's discovery, one of the largest and most surreal searches in LEP history. Armed with cages and nets, most of the on-duty staff of the LEP were searching the headquarters for a guinea pig.

Foaly didn't believe N'Zall's new body would be found, it was hardly a coincidence that it went missing at the same time as this new threat arose. While the teams searched the building, he scoured the surveillance of the technician room where the cage was.

It wouldn't have been hard to free N'zall, as he was the least heavily guarded prisoner the LEP had ever held, being a pet rodent. The technicians were put in charge of feeding and caring for him, which they did with great enthusiasm. It had taken one of them nearly getting stabbed to stop putting small swords in the cage with him, as he eventually learned that using both his front paws made up for his lack of thumbs.

While this was happening, Holly was once again out in the city. She was still off of the case, not that she would have participated in the absurd search anyway. As she walked away from the plaza, she had an idea of where she could go for some support.

Across Haven, the Frond Memorial stood tall, reminding the citizens of Haven of the king who had saved them all from the mud men. Over the centuries, the area around it had been made into an area for the memorial of all fallen heroes of the people. Many LEP officers' ashes lay inside the stone memorials that made a spiraling pattern out from the statue of the elven king. Holly walked along one arm of this spiral, coming to a stop in front of one in particular.

The memorial she stopped at didn't actually contain someone's ashes, as no body was left to be cremated. This wasn't uncommon, as many of the fairies in the memorial had put their whole being into their sacrifices for The People. Instead the ashes inside consisted of material that represented him, a uniform, his blaster, and a picture of his graduating academy class, and a cigar. Holly knelt down in front of it, her reflection in the mirrored bronze plaque looking back at her as she read the message inscribed there.

Here lies the last mortal remains of

LEP Commander Julius Root,

Who gave his life in defense of

Haven.

The message was essentially a form letter, repeated on so many of the other plaques around it. She had always felt the the commander deserved a more eloquent epitaph, but it was what he would have wanted. Root felt that The People came first, and laying down his life was the least he could do for them. In his last full conversation with Holly before his death, he had been convincing her to take the Major position she had just talked to Trouble about.

While he may not have wanted to, Julius would always have done whatever was necessary to protect as many of Haven's citizens as he could. _Even if that meant sacrificing himself_, Holly thought, _Or sacrificing Artemis_.

Holly realized that was the answer he would have given her. One human was not worth risking the lives The People, no matter how smart or important he was. _Or how much you love him_.

Realizing the truth, Holly let out a sob. She did not start crying, as she felt that would be an offense to the man whose grave she knelt before.

"I can't do it Julius," She said, her voice shaky, "I can't give up Artemis, not even for The People. There has to be another way."

She decided that would be her great philosophy. The good of The People came first, yes, but not before every other option, to save as many as could be saved, was exhausted. She wasn't going to let Artemis die for her race. Not again.

-Demon camp-

Artemis awoke tied to a chair. Looking around, he immediately began assessing his situation. _Tied down to a chair, one bright light directly above me to disrupt my vision of the room around me, how original_. Artemis ducked his head, shading his view, and allowed his vision to clear. He couldn't see much, but he was able to make out several figures standing around the edge of the room, as well as some boxes or equipment he couldn't make out. _I get the feeling this isn't going to be pleasant_.

Artemis also realized, with a pang of sorrow, that the presence in his head was now gone, meaning his only company, Orion, was gone with it.

One of the figures stepped forward, his upper body entering the cone of light around Artemis. It was a buck demon with a horn missing, evidently broken off in some sort of fight, judging by the jagged partial horn sticking out of his head. The demon abruptly hit Artemis in the face with the back of his hand. _How much more cliched can these demons get_? Artemis thought, also, _Ow_!

"So you thought to call for help, huh little mud man?" The demon said in a mocking tone, "You think we weren't prepared for that? Our base had a self destruct, it was long gone before you precious elf captain could get there."

_Good_, thought Artemis, _He doesn't realize that I left a message_. "Please," Artemis said, letting the pain seep into his voice, "Just let me go, they're never going to give up No. 1."

"Then I'm afraid we'll have to kill you." The demon said this casually, and Artemis could tell he would have no qualms about ending his life. The chuckling around the edge of the room strengthened this conclusion. Artemis experimentally tried to see how much he could move, and felt several somethings digging into his ankles and feet. _Thank you Holly_, he thought, remembering his plan. The demons had evidently not thought to search him entirely after recapturing him. He decided it was time to have some fun. Suddenly, he looked up, directly into the eyes of the demon above him.

"That would be a mistake." He said, all trace of fear or pain gone from his voice, leaving only his normal, smug tone. "Because then, you see, my 'precious elf captain' would pursue you to the ends of the earth and beyond. She was able to pull me back from death itself, do you really think you could hide from her?"

This made the demon step back, suddenly scared of this frail human who, despite having every reason to, did not fear him. Deciding the conversation was over, he signaled to someone behind Artemis' back, who brought a buzz baton down on his neck, knocking him unconscious again. Even so, he thought he could still see a trace of that smug grin on his face. He had once fought a demon with the same grin. Though he had won, he lost a horn and was disgraced during that fight, his opponent turning out to be far more cunning and powerful than his stature suggested. _Just a coincidence_, He convinced himself, _Just a coincidence_.

-Police Plaza-

Holly had made her way back to LEP headquarters, rushing to the ops booth. She had an idea, but it was risky.

In the booth, Foaly and Trouble were watching surveillance footage. As Holly walked in, she saw a young demon female, whom she had seen around the building a few times, come into the room on the screen. Checking to make sure she was unseen, she walked up to a cage on a table and reached in, pulling out the guinea pig everyone had been searching for, and replacing it with another. While this was smart, the two didn't match. It was enough, however, that the switch would not be noticed by those who watched the prisoner, who believed that no one would ever want to break a guinea pig out of jail.

"She's not even full time," Foaly said, pulling up the proper personnel file, "She's a part-time assistant brought in to help with the reconstruction. With all the chaos, we must have slipped up on the background checks."

Holly wasn't interested though. She didn't care who had stolen N'Zall, he was already gone. The most important thing now was to get Artemis back, and she had a plan.

"I've got an idea of how we can get Artemis back." She said, changing the topic, "It's fairly simple, we do exactly what they want, give them No. 1."

**A/N: Yet another cliffhanger! Who saw that coming? Anyway, sorry again for the long wait, chapter 10 is in production and shouldn't take too long after my current semester ends. Stay tuned!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Welcome back everybody. My first year of college is finally over and I might just have time to write more. So, much anticipated, here is chapter 10! enjoy.**

Holly didn't give Trouble or Foaly time to interject, launching directly into her plan. "We do what they want and least expect, we give them 'No. 1 '" She said, emphasizing the name with air quotes, "But it's not really him. We use their own tactic against them and send in a magical double!"

Trouble looked to Foaly, clearly wondering if it could work. Foaly was clearly deep in thought, finally, he spoke. "It could work." he said, starting to dash around the room, collecting various pieces of equipment, "Holly, get No. 1 to meet us at the ops shuttle. Let's hope he's ready, because this is gonna be big." With that, he ran out the door towards his shuttleport.

Holly ran for No. 1's office, causing his assistant to jump at her arrival, expecting more violence. The young warlock barely had time to say hello before he was yanked down the hallway after an auburn-haired blur. He could almost swear the blur was speaking to him, something along the lines of "infusing river stones" and "saving Arty!"

-Demon Camp-

Artemis was beginning to get groggy. After three more interrogation sessions (Artemis had no idea why they kept calling them that, they didn't ask questions, just poked and prodded him), he was starting to lose the ability to detach himself from his experiences. On top of that, the items hidden throughout his clothing were really beginning to hurt.

Suddenly, the door to the chamber opened. _Oh good_, Artemis thought, _More poking_. The demon buck with the horn missing walked in, and Artemis could almost swear he looked happy to see him.

"Your friend, the elf, doesn't seem to have as much strength as you gave her credit for." He said, grinning and showing off his yellowed teeth. "She has agreed to trade you for the traitor. Unfortunately, we don't like you, so we're going to kill you anyway. Don't worry, we'll make sure she's watching."

Artemis hung his head, using the last sparks of magic in his brain to clear it, _I will need all my intelligence for this, pity I have so little magic left at this point._

-Ops Shuttle-

Holly was concentrating on flying. According to Foaly, interrupting No. 1 at this point could be catastrophic, so her skills were more important than ever.

The demons had picked the drop-off point, an area just outside the city that was still in ruins from the Koboi incident. Holly didn't like it, but then she shouldn't. The area had no surveillance, barely had lighting, and was a tactical nightmare, with large cover-worthy pieces of debris everywhere, promising to make any firefight a long one. Once she was close enough she ran a series of sonar sweeps, but they were rudimentary at best, providing just enough information to confirm earlier conclusions and make a basic plan of attack.

She landed on the side of the expanse closest to the city, allowing the demons to retreat into the tunnels. _More tactical options for them_, she thought, bitterly. She moved to the back, where Foaly and No. 1 where readying for the plan.

"We'll be putting a glamour over you," Foaly said, turning to face the elf, "No matter what, you'll look like No. 1, which is good for you because we can send you in with full recon gear."

He moved over to the equipment rack, pulling down a shimmer suit, helmet, and a belt with two holsters. He handed these to Holly, who quickly began changing, and set about to readying two neutrino 3500 pistols. These pistols were the result of idle hands and nervous energy over the last several days. The two he had were the only ones in existence, and featured faster firing rates, more power output, and the ability for both to be linked into an updated targeting computer in Holly's helmet, allowing her to double her trademark accuracy. Turning, he handed them to her, explaining as she expertly spun them and inserted them into her hip holsters.

"These are a sort of halfway mark between the 3000 and 4000 series. Same build and battery, but with enough changes to warrant a new name."

No.1 stepped forward, runes already spiraling.

"This is going to tickle," he said, as the beam of red magic shot into Holly, building a magical skin to hide her, "And try to hold still, looks these good take precision."

Where she not being transformed into a demon warlock, Holly would have smacked him for joking at a time like this. A few moments later, the spell was done, and two No.1's stood facing each other.

"Weird." they echoed, looking and sounding identical.

-Demon Camp-

Artemis was, for a few moments, confused. The demons holding him seemed to have acquired a pet, _or a snack_, he thought. Then he remembered Abbot's punishment. Before him in a cage was the missing guinea pig, going hysterical at the site of his enemy. Artemis was sure that if he had enough magic left to translate rodent to english, he would have learned quite a few choice words.

"I see you're all ready for No.1's arrival." Artemis said, looking at the half-horned demon.

"Yes," He answered, "And when our leader once again has the power of a warlock, Haven, no, the _world_ will be ours."

Artemis merely rolled his eyes at this as he was unbound, stood up, and handcuffed.

-Drop Off-

Holly walked slowly, feeling the stone in her hand. No.1 had said it would be easier to put the unraveling spell in the stone, as it was less complex and they were short on time. She went over her plan in her head.

_I make sure Artemis is safe, then I drop the stone and shoot everything that moves. Simple_. She hoped that Foaly's new gun would be better suited to taking down this many demons.

Ahead, she could see Artemis ahead, handcuffed to a rather large demon with a horn broken off. He looked up when he saw her, then looked down again, seeming sad.

_He thinks we're giving up No. 1 to save him_, Holly realized. She had to give him some sign. Searching her magic, she decided to pull a trick out of No. 1's book. _I am supposed to be him, after all_.

"Uimhir 1 is sábháilte" she said, hoping he got it. When she spoke, Artemis stayed where as he was, but a small smile seemed to form.

"Of course its me, No. 1," He said, looking up, "What took you so long?"

The demons took the bait and assumed she was checking his identity. Everything was going fine, the buck holding Artemis unchained him and pushed him towards the LEP side of the drop point, roughly grabbing "No. 1" and put the the chain around his wrist. Holly was glad to discover that the cuff rested on the spell, and she would easily be able to get free. _Not that it would have taken me long anyway_. She was itching to try out Foaly's new guns.

Unfortunately, once Artemis reached the halfway point between the two groups, Holly heard a strange sound and a jet of light hit him squarely in the back.

She watched him fall, almost in slow motion. Before he even hit the ground, she had dropped her stone and slipped the cuff. The large demon barely had time to look surprised before a barely aimed flurry of fire took off his other horn and lifted him off his feet.

By the time he landed on a nearby comrade, Holly's training took hold. She was a cold machine, sinking shots into whichever demon dared leave cover. Several shot energy bolts at her using stones held in one hand, aiming with the other. These fell fastest, as she assumed one of them had taken the shot, and they all would be punished.

Before long, however, she was forced to take cover or wind up like Artemis. Several demons rushed her with swords, but the few that made it were quickly knocked down. The rest were picked of by the squad of LEPRetrieval officers swarming over the battlefield, led by Trouble Kelp, wielding a Neutrino assault rifle.

Fans of energy crisscrossed the field, taking down those unlucky enough to have their head up at the wrong time. The officers were luckier than Artemis, as their suits were made to withstand energy, most of them would be fine if a few days.

On the far side of the field, the top blew off of a Section 8 shuttle. Looking like a true creature of hell, No. 1 rose out of it surrounded by red energy. He had just been told of Artemis' fate, and upon seeing it with his own eyes, let out a cry that made both sides cringe as he sent magical blasts flying uncontrolled across the field. Before any of the LEP officers could be hurt, he collapsed to the ground. Behind him was Foaly, wielding what appeared to be an elf's finger.

Holly took advantage of the confusion this caused back her way across the field, suppressing fire leaving her dual Neutrinos at an alarming rate. Finally, she reached Artemis, dragging behind a nearby pile of debris. "Heal!" she cried, forcing all of her magic into him, "Heal, D'Arvit!"

Within seconds she had used up all her reserves. While is was effecting the tissue, it would take far more power than she had to do any good. Weeping, she pulled Artemis closer to her, lifting him to pull his body into her lap.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: More apologies for the gap between chapters, and thanks to those of you who have put up with my constant procrastination. I believe this to be the penultimate chapter of this story, but I have ideas for more. These characters are too good to simply leave.**

**On with the show.**

Holly was out of magic. She had put everything she had into Artemis' bloodied form to little affect. No. 1 might have been able to heal the wounds, or at least stabilize him until a more permanent healing could be achieved, but Foaly had sedated him to prevent him killing any friendly officers.

Spent, she fell back against the debris she hid behind. She looked into Artemis' face, momentarily glad to see he was conscious again, only to feel a pang of guilt, knowing he could feel the pain of his wounds again. After a moment, she was able to choke out a semblance of speech.

"You'll do anything to try and shock me, won't you." She said, tears falling onto his battered jacket, "Always so melodramatic."

Artemis did his best to grin, but couldn't quite manage it. Slowly, and with a bit of help, he brought his hand up almost to her face.

"My love," He said, his fingertips brushing her face, "I haven't even begun."

With this, he opened his hand fully, and a single smooth stone fell onto his chest.

An instant later, an explosion pushed Holly back against the pile of rubble, simultaneously pushing Artemis away. A golden chain spread from the stone on Artemis' chest to points on his arms, legs, and torso, the areas burning away to reveal more stones. Suspended in this magical cage, Artemis' wounds began to heal, his body jerking and his pores steaming as the magic cleansed and tested his body. He let out streams of gibberish, words from every language, as light poured out of his eyes and mouth. Finally, with a second explosion, the stones fell to the ground, red hot from magical overload, and a healed, though quite naked Artemis fell to the ground.

Holly scrambled forward, ducking from the renewed onslaught as the explosion gave away her position. She grabbed Artemis and pulled him back to her hiding spot, noting that it was starting to disintegrate. Holding up his head, she noticed that he was once again unconscious, a side effect of a massive magical healing.

Before she had time to breath a sigh of relief, she was lifted from the ground. After a moment of struggle, she found herself face to face with the demon she had blasted, the one missing a horn.

"YEARS OF PLANNING!" he bellowed, shaking her, "YEARS OF PLANNING AND PATIENCE, RUNIED BY AN ELF AND A MUDMAN! ONLY TO HAPPEN AGAIN!"

Before Holly could decipher his meaning, a scuffling noise from behind her distracted both elf and demon. Below, Artemis was pushing himself against the slab of concrete, chastely covering his nudity with his hands. As he moved, he spoke.

"Leon, I presume," He stated, matter-of-factly, "Or N'Zall if we want to be particular."

"Yes," The demon replied, "The fool was prepared to transfer me to No. 1, and when he failed I used the spell in the stone to transfer myself into his vessel. A temporary measure until I pry your soul from your body and take yours."

At this point, Holly attempted to say something. I say attempted as, being held by the neck at this point, in order to free a hand for N'Zall's gesturing, she was not quite heard. For the record, the words she was not heard saying where "Over my dead body".

Holly pulled her guns from her holsters and, flicking them both to full power, fired two twin bursts of power into N'Zall's chest. The neutrino charge traveled through his body, frying the outer layers of his skin and knocking him unconscious. It also traveled along his hand into Holly. Though her suit absorbed the bulk of the charge, burning out instantly, it was enough to send her flying from his grasp, landing some 30 feet away.

A few moments later, she saw Artemis' face hovering over hers.

"My love," he said, looking over his shoulder at the slightly smoking form of the once demon king, "If I am ever caught monologueing in such a tasteless manner, I fully expect the same treatment."

Holly didn't quite have time to respond before she blacked out.

-Police Plaza Infirmary-

When Holly awoke, she was staring at the same head, though from a different angle, and the burnt out sunstrips of the battlefield had been replaced with bright fluorescent lights on a white ceiling.

"Wake up, Captain Short," Artemis said, the head moving farther away as he stood, "Or I guess I should say Major, even if it's not official yet. Apparently they can't have the ceremony without the receiving officer."

Holly smiled as she recognized her surroundings. There were a surprising amount of flowers surrounding her bed.

"I see you've noticed your little garden." Artemis said, looking around the bed, "The big ones are from No. 1, I understand they've been extinct for some time now. The ones on your left are from Foaly, he tells me they won't wilt for at least another week. The ones on the right are Trouble's, he keeps replacing them so he can compete with Foaly."

"What about the others?" Holly asked, gesturing to what was at least five other bouquets in various places around her bed.

"Mine, of course." Artemis said, as if she needn't ask, "A Fowl is never outdone, not even with flowers. Now, about your injuries." Artemis shifted in closer to her bed. Holly noticed his clothes were rumpled in a way she had never seen. _He must have slept here_, she thought.

"After your neutrino blast knocked you out, the battle ended quickly. Foaly and I brought you here immediately. You were out of magic, and No. 1 wouldn't infuse you until your neural pathways had healed naturally first." Artemis paused here, and stiffened slightly. "You've been unconscious for some time, I was starting to worry."

The statement, which might have seemed cold or observational to anybody else, was to Holly full of emotion. For the great Artemis Fowl to admit something so unprofessional as worry was rare.

"I haven't heard that tone in your voice since that parking lot in London." Holly said, remembering Butler's accident at Artemis' hands.

Rather than respond, Artemis leaned in and kissed her lightly.

**A/N: Short, I know, I'm sorry, you all deserve more for your wait. At least it's not a cliffhanger! The last chapter of "The Next Adventure" will be up soon (I promise!), and the next story is currently in the outlining phase.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: One last thank you to those who have stuck by me despite my erratic uploading schedule. This is the last chapter of the all-to-short Next Adventure. The chapter is itself fairly short, just long enough to lead into my next story, currently being outlined.**

-Two Weeks Later-

Major Holly Short looked at the screen in front of her. Numbers scrolled across the screen, tracking variables in a complex simulation. In a video window, a slim figure walked along a simulated street, in a simulated Haven.

Behind him, several yards back, a figure keeping to the shadows followed.

-Elsewhere-

Artemis walked along, pushing through midday traffic in Haven's market district. As he wandered, he felt as if he was being watched.

-Ops Booth-

Holly pressed a few keys, watching as the shadowy figure moved closer to her prey. _All too easy_, she thought, before realization hit her, _Too easy_.

-Elsewhere-

Artemis spun around, pulling a small pistol from the holster hidden by his suit jacket. He fired several shots into a nearby patch of shadow, watching as the attacker, having barely finished shielding, shimmered into view and fell unconscious to the pavement. He looked up, in no particular direction, knowing Holly's sensors would focus on his face. "You're going to have to do better than that," he said, to no one in particular, "He's been following me for blocks."

He had just finished speaking when a random passerby pulled out a buzz baton and touched it to the back of his neck, unactivated.

"I'm behind you," the wielder of the baton said, "So you can stop talking into the cameras."

Holly had been running simulations with Artemis for a week now, preparing him in case someone tried to hurt him again. Lately she had taken to involving herself in the endgame. She hadn't lost yet.

That's when Artemis dissolved.

Holly felt something stick into her back. From behind her, someone spoke.

"Yes, well, if it's you trying to kidnap me, I might just let you." Artemis unshielded, tapping a few button on his communicator, turning off the simulation.

"You cheated!" Holly said with mock surprise, turning to face him, "You hacked my sim!"

"You've been cheating the whole time," Artemis said, feigning hurt to go with her surprise, "Bombs from nowhere; sudden rooftop attackers during sniper training; the elephants, for sure." Artemis was sure Butler had called that one in.

Holly grinned and kissed him before turning towards the door.

"You never know what people will go through to get to the great Artemis Fowl." She emphasized his name, full of exaggeration, "Now come on, you've been stalking through Haven on a hot afternoon for hours, you need a cold shower."

"And you?" Artemis asked, following her.

"I've been watching you stalk through Haven on a hot afternoon for hours, I need a _very_ cold shower."

-Thirty Minutes Later-

Artemis walked out of Police Plaza hand in hand with Holly.

"I never thought I'd be walking with a Mud Man through the streets of Haven without handcuffs being involved." Holly said, looking up at Foaly's holo-sky.

"Perhaps," Artemis said, tilting his head back to look as well, "For once, we can finally have more than a few months between instances of saving the world."

That was when Foaly's sky turned red and in the distance, the blast doors could be seen sliding shut.

As klaxons wailed, Artemis sighed.

"Or, perhaps not."

**A/N: The end, for now. Stay tuned for my next story, Artemis Fowl and the Necromancer**


End file.
